Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s furlough from Iranian prison extended

LONDON (AP) — British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s temporary release from an Iranian jail has been extended by a month amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, her local lawmaker said Tuesday.

Tulip Siddiq, who has campaigned for the prisoner’s release, tweeted that she had heard from Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Richard, that the furlough from Evin prison had been extended for a month.

“Now is the time for our government to do all it can to make it permanent,” Siddiq said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been due to return to prison from her family’s home over the weekend to continue serving a five-year sentence. Iran accuses her of plotting to overthrow the government.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a holiday with her toddler daughter in April 2016. Her family says she was in Iran to visit family, denying that she was plotting against Iran.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.

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